basement waterproofing

[Ted Fairhurst]

I'm looking for advice on whether or not I should waterproof my basement walls in order to eliminate dampness on the basement floor.

The dampness appears to be the result of moisture rising through the

2-inches of concrete. Our house was built about 85 years ago. It has a clay-brick foundation, possibly without any weeping tiles.

Since the basement is partly finished, installing a new, sealed and insulated floor is not an option. I wonder if waterproofing the walls and installing new weeping tiles will likely solve the floor dampness problem. Some people have suggested that waterproofing the walls will only prevent wall dampness. They say that water might well still enter the basement through the floor.

Any advice on this point much appreciated.

Ted Fairhurst

[Joseph Meehan]

97.25% of the time waterproofing walls will not help. ... Well at lest it does not help when you are trying to do it from the inside.

To solve the problem you need to get the water away from the foundation/wall/floor before it gets to it. To do that you need to make sure all the ground around your home slopes away from you foundation. You need to make sure not gutters etc. empty anywhere close to the foundation. Finally you need to provide a way for water that does get their naturally will find it easier to flow away from your home, than into it.

Frankly I doubt if waterproofing the walls will proved any relief at all.

[Art]

Install a sump and pump in a corner of the unfinished portion and hopefully that will lower the water table enuf to solve the problem. If not a french drain around the outside of the house. I assume your gutters work and the grade slopes away from the foundation walls or fix those first.

[B]

A sump pump needs drain pipes leading to it, so in your case a new sump well won't do much. And don't build a french drain around the house either. You are trying to "repel" water, not collect it against the house.

-B

[Art]

If there is a bed of gravel under the concrete floor it will help collect the water to the sump. THe french drain drains off water so there is no hydraulic pressure against the concrete foundation and the interior stays dry.